Amsterdam Goes smart(ly) Electric

Electric Vehicles - Solution or Diversion?
EV-MOTORING.COM

By Henny Hemmes
Senior European Editor
The Auto Channel

AMSTERDAM, October 26, 2011. In just another month, car2go, a division of Daimler AG, will introduce the smart fortwo electric drive in Amsterdam. From November 24, the company will offer 300 units of the tiny little two-seater for car sharing. People can decide on the go to hire the smart and are not required to turn the EV in at a certain place. It will not be necessary to charge the battery after each hiring session, as the range (135 km/83 miles) of a fully charged battery will be eight to ten times more than the average trip.

After Hamburg and Ulm in Germany, Austin, Texas and Vancouver, Canada, Amsterdam is the fifth city where car2go will be offered, but the first in Europe with an electric fleet. Some 45,000 members used one of the existing 1,100 units more than 900,000 times. The average time is between 16 and 60 minutes and the average range is between 10 and 15 km/6 and 9 miles.

The Dutch capital already offers 400 charging stations, while by the end of 2012 there will be around 1,000. Car2go will be active in an area of 30 sq. miles, covering most of the city. The white EVs can be picked up and dropped off at any parking place in the area or at one of the 36 especially designated parking spots in six parking structures in the city center.

Only when the capacity of the battery is below 20 per cent, the battery has to be charged. If the capacity is below 40 percent, the driver gets 10 minutes free driving as a bonus for charging.

The cars will be equipped with modern telematics to enable fully automatic hiring. The cost of the first 20 km is free and from then on, one minute driving will cost 29 euro cent. The hourly and daily rates will be € 12.90 and € 39 respectively. If the car is used for a stop-over, a parking fee of 9 cents per minute (€ 5.40 per hour) will automatically be applied.